But Australia were kept afloat by captain George Bailey who reached his half-century off 54 balls.
Yuvraj Singh ran out Adam Voges with a direct hit as Australia lost their fourth wicket.
Bailey tapped to backward point and called Voges for a quick single, who responded but could not beat the direct hit from Yuvraj who came rushing in and in one swift motion hit the stumps with a direct hit.
Yuvraj took his second wicket when he had Aaron Finch caught by Virat Kohli at long-off.
Finch wanted to hit over extra cover but because Yuvraj bowled it a little slower, the ball didn't come onto to the bat and the mistimed shot meant that it went straight to Kohli at long-off.
Finch smashed three sixes and eight fours in his 79-ball 72.
Ravindra Jadeja proved instrumental in breaking an impressive 110-run opening wicket stand between Finch & Phillip Hughes by scalping the latter.
Hughes (47) was caught by Suresh Raina at leg-slip just before comeback man Yuvraj Singh dismissed Shane Watson in the next over by having him caught by Jadeja at long-on.
Finch, who reached his fifty in 54 balls, hit a flurry of boundaries and put up a swift partnership with fellow opener Hughes after skipper Bailey won the toss and decided to bat.
India have enjoyed exceptional results in one-day format this year. Except losing a three-match series to Pakistan at the start of 2013, the world champion side has had tremendous success, winning series after series.
The hosts had whitewashed Australia 4-0 in the February-March Test series and avenging that loss would be a Herculean task for the visitors, who have come without inspiring skipper Michael Clarke even as their batsmen gave a good account of themselves in the one-off Twenty20 in Rajkot.
Australia did beat England in ODIs post their Ashes debacle but India are a tough nut to crack in home conditions. And the visitors have got a fair idea about the task ahead after failing to defend a 200-plus total in Rajkot.
The Australian attack was subdued by the Indian batsmen, specially the comeback-man Yuvraj Singh, who took the game away from them with his blitzy 35-ball 77.
Even though the matches commence one hour earlier than is the custom in India, the team bowling second would obviously have to factor in the dew fall which makes the ball skid off the track and trouble the spinners from having a firmer grip.
Teams:
India: MS Dhoni (Capt.), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Ishant Sharma.
Australia: George Bailey(Capt.), Aaron Finch, Phillip Hughes, Shane Watson, Adam Voges, Glenn Maxwell, Brad Haddin, James Faulkner, Mitchell Johnson, Xavier Doherty, Clint McKay.
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